catching up - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday

(The team on the Great Wall)


(Concert)

SUNDAY: Adventures in the Village

Today was our first (and only) "free day.". We had many different opportunities to travel around the village and immerse ourselves within the local culture.
A group of us decided to shop at a local Lunar Market, which is centralized around the Chinese Lunar Calendar.  To get to the market we had to travel about a mile down a very windy dirt road lined with wheat.
I could have sworn I was in Kansas.
It was only until a wooden rickshaw passed that I remembered I was in East Asia. When we reached the market we were met with a sea of people. The best way that I can describe this shopping center is that it is very much like a flea market. You could buy a wide arrangement of items including clothing, shoes, food, fabric and plants. The market even had a section that reminded me of the dollar section at Target (this was my personal favorite area:)).
We learned that this market is very rarely visited by foreigners (that would be us) and by very rarely I mean almost never (which would explain a lot of the staring). We also learned that Lunar Market used to be very popular in this country and for some reason they have slowly started to disappear. The one that we were able to go to was one of the very last surviving markets.
I was very surprised with the generosity and kindness of the people while in the market. I would not be surprised if we were some of the very first Americans that these people have ever and will ever see, yet they welcomed us into their tradition openly. I will be honest, my Chinese vocabulary probably consist of ten words or less but these people were never rude or impatient with working with me or any others in the group. While walking down the crowed streets of the market my group and I were surprised when we heard a very loud and excited "HELLO" from one of the locals working at one of the booths. This brought such a smile to my face because this man seemed so happy to see us and was very welcoming to us being there.
Now newly inspired, Brittany, Tillie, Matt and I decided to play the sweet and sour game (no pun intended) on our way back home by saying "Ne-hao" (hello) to everyone that we passed along the way.  Lets just say that we won that game one hundred percent of the time! But apart from smiling and saying hello to everyone going by being fun it was also very eye opening to me. I learned that all it takes is going out of your way to show kindness to anther is very rewarding, even if it is just being able to say hello.

This country has been completely different from what I thought before coming over here. The people have been the most surprising to me. Through American eyes these people have almost nothing but for some reason they have figured out happiness. They are joyful and welcoming even to a point were a couple of us were able to enter into their home. This trip has been very eye opening to me.

To my loved ones back home, I miss you terribly and I cannot wait to see you!
Mom I am still safe (don't worry)
Te amo- very much!
Missy

(The Lunar Market)


MONDAY:  Oh, the JOY of Children

Hello world! And by world, I mean the good ol’ United States of America. Long time no see! Just a forewarning, this might be a little scatterbrained and jumpy, but here goes nothing!

Well, as you know, we are in East Asia! Woot woot. Today the VBS crew (Andy, Missy, Paige, Austin, Kaleb, and me-Tillie) started bright and late at 8:30! (I say this because many of us wake up at the crack of dawn due to…jet lag? Perhaps.) Let’s just say that 8:30 seems pretty late here for most of us.  We played a couple of ice breakers with the kids to get them warmed up and enthused and all that kinda stuff. We did all sorts of fun things like make no-bake cookies (which we had to improvise a bit on…but they turned out pretty swell) and play “plus” also known as “finger fiesta!” (if you’re reading this Maggie… ).
In the kitchen during our no-bake extravaganza is where I first noticed that these kids were definitely not introverts as they so displayed at the beginning (those rascals!). Haha. The girls specifically seem to be very fond of laughter, pouring stuff into the “baking” of the no-bakes, and, of course…tickling! I was plum tuckered out from the extensive, no mercy tickling I had to endure! Good thing I had “tickle timeouts” (magical periods of time in which I suddenly became no longer ticklish…muahahaha) to recover. They are all great kids, though. Interestingly enough, if our VBS adventure in the kitchen a worldwide experiment, it would definitely prove the theory that women are drawn to cooking rather than men…only one boy really helped, and he was a rowdy little goober about the age of three. He was eager, though! Surely that counts for something. One point for the boys. After mixing the cookies and setting them out to dry we headed on down to the outside basketball court to play a nice game of basketball golf.  We kiiiiinda didn’t figure in the short factor. Let’s just say that many quickly abandoned basketball golf for the much more exciting and thought provoking game of duck, duck, goose. The kids were adorable. Little Benjamin (the 3 year old) got sooo excited every time….well…ANYTHING happened. It was hilarious. I tagged him on one round and then proceeded to baby step (newborn step might be a better explanation) back around the circle while he most excitedly followed behind me within fingers reach without getting me out. He did beat me to my spot, though! I guess you could say maybe I went easy on him…just maybe.
After sports we ate our delicious, crumbly cookies, and then Missy gave a little message about the Living Word (p.s. the VBS is for the “foreigners” kids…the people who work here). We split off into small groups and had a little discussion time after that. I would say the morning was a success… We began with mostly silent, introverted kids and ended with the loudest and most rowdy bunch of them all! Who knew a group of kids could change so much in one three hour period.

After lunch, Amber, Chandler, Jess (an intern), and I did some cleaning in the foster home for a couple hours. We mostly just wiped down and cleaned the kitchens and bathrooms. At about 3 o’clock, I headed over to the Healing Home (a branch of the foster home) to work with the kids. None of the nannies speak English over there, so believe me when I say that being the only one around who speaks your own language is a pretty interesting experience. I found myself making up their conversations in my head. Haha. It was a really good day, though.
There is a little girl there that I just LOOOOOOOOVE, and I want to take her home with me. Her English name is Willa, and she is just the cutest little thing this side of the Mississippi (and that’s saying something!). She has the best laugh ever, and she loves to be tickled, and she has beautiful eyes, and she has the cutest smile. But enough about that. Oh…but have I told you about Willa???? Haha. But seriously. She is the cutest. Two of the nannies and I took 6 of the kids from the Healing Home on a walk in strollers. We just sat outside on a street corner in the shade of a tree for like an hour. You’d think it’d be boring, right? But the time flew! It’s amazing what you notice when you can’t understand. I saw the nannies teaching these little children right in front of my eyes. I could see how much they cared and how the kids were just soaking up everything that they said. I like to think that I have some innate sense of what they were talking about, but I’m pretty sure that I actually do. They were learning words. They were playing “What’s that?!” You remember that game, mom.  It was a really neat experience. On my way back, one of the nannies gave me a ride on the back of her motorized bike. She didn’t have to, I will probably never see her again, but she did. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, the same goes for her…but she gave me a ride. I guess love is the same in all languages. And that’s saying something.


(The Children)


TUESDAY: Never knowing what to expect....
One of the first things people tell you when preparing for trips like this is to not be surprised when things don’t go according to plan.

Today didn’t go according to plan. Surprise!

Each of us is supposed to get one full day in the foster home here and the rest of the time we are in classrooms teaching English to the students. Today was supposed to be my day, and I spent my morning holding and playing games with adorable little babies (most of whom have already had at least one heart surgery to save their lives). I loved hanging out with the kids and coming up with the simplest games that kept them amused for long periods of time.

During lunch, however, we found out that we had to re-arrange our schedule. We were previously told that tonight we were supposed to lead a time of music and encouragement for the workers at the foster home. After our meeting last night, we came up with a good plan of what we were going to do, but then we found out that the location was changed, and we were instead supposed to perform a “music concert” for all of the workers and all of the students (potentially close to 100 people). Needless to say, that was not our original plan.

About an hour before the concert was supposed to start, I arrived to help set up. We had three guitars, but none of them could be plugged in to the sound system. We had no guitar strap and a shortage of mic stands. Long story short, Andy, Kaleb and I each performed a few songs using two microphones that were literally TAPED to a position that was relatively close to our mouths/guitars. A few minutes before we started playing, one of the workers’ teenage sons asked if he could play drums for our band. None of us really had time to practice.

I really like order. Chaotic situations like this really challenge me. Despite my initial frustration and disbelief at the lack of organization, I was able to laugh about the ridiculous microphone situation and we did the best with what we had. Amazingly, things went well (all things considered). The students got a kick out of singing a Michael Jackson song with Andy and did their best to sing and clap along with the other songs that they didn’t know. It ended up being a fun night, and I think it’s safe to say that it was easily one of the most amusing “rock concerts” to ever happen anywhere in the world.

We’re continuing to build great relationships with the students, and everyone tells us that the students are hanging out with us much more than any other team that has come recently. We have really connected with them. They are such a fun and smart group of students. They are eager to practice their English, and they are always ready for a game of Knockout to break out on the basketball courts. It’s definitely hard to believe that we’ve been here a week already.

Surprise!
-Matt